Great Day at the Garage Sales!!!!

NWCCTV

I just got home from my monthly round of garage saleing. I picked up two large tubs of nothing but electronics stuff. I paid ten bucks for everything I got and I got a LOT. There are IC's, LED,s timers, capacitors, diodes, resistors, etc. etc. Some are in drawer cases that are worth more than what I paid!!!! A lot of the stuff is from the 70's and 80's but I have seen some things that I can definately use. There are several items that I have no clue as to what I could use them for. If anyone would like to help out I would gladly send you some of the items. I can post a list of the items that I am not sure what I could do with and if you send me back an explanation I will send you items you are interested in. Just PM me and I will send you a list after I go through everything. I did Google some of the items and came up with data sheets, but they really do not explain what I could actually use them for. I am in the process of building a robot so any items that would work for it means I do not have to buy them.

Next, I got a whole bunch of these retro 5 Bubble displays that are from the 70"s. Does anyone know how to connect these up and what voltage to use? Here is a link on youtube that shows them in use but it does not explain how to connect them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbRov4W1aJA

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Where the heck do you live? Around here, all you see at garage sales are glassware, old china, and rusty hand tools.

-Phil

NWCCTV

Federal Way. This seldom happens. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time!!! I would say there is well over $1,000.00 worth of stuff altogether. about 75% of it is still in original packaging. There was even a bag of 15 small DC motors that has never been opened. Like I said, a lot of the stuff is from the 70's and 80's era but there is a ton of items I can use.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Wow. What a score!

I've got one of those 5-digit LEDs.RadioShack used to carry them. I wish they were still made, as I have a product design that could use them. Until recently TAOS (now AMS) had their own version, inherited from TI. Anyway, the best way to pin them out is with a 5V lead in series with a 1K resistor and and a ground lead. It won't take long to ring out the connections by probing pairs of leads, watching which segments light up, until you've got it figured out.

-Phil

NWCCTV

How many do you need for your product design. I think there is about 15 of them and I doubt I will use them all. If you do not need too many I can send them out to you.

LoopyByteloose

Garage sales in and around Silicon Valley can be very special. I suspect that living near MIT or other such technological cultures offer really cool opportunities.

HP made a lot of very cool stuff that was rather expensive. These appear to not only be special numeric displays, but are gold plated. I had a pile of tiny special LEDs they made with solid silver leads. My guess these are collectible as bits of history in themselves, and they will never, ever tarnish. Nice stuff.

NWCCTV

Wow, That's good news!!! I did not realize but you are right, they are not gold plated. I guess I will be hanging on to these ones!!!!!

So I went through a portion of the IC's that were in cases today. I have about 60 different ones!!! Some are the same type of IC just with different part numbers but I documented them all seperately. I ended up with several LM555CN timers and also some LM322N timers. I know what to do with those, but most of the other items are Greek to me. I have been searching for data sheets and have found a few but I am having trouble finding a lot of them.

I also ended up with a book titled "The TTL Data Book". I will scan through that to see if it is any help.

So, If anyone is interested in helping me figure out what I can do with these IC's PM me and I will send a copy of the list. If you are able to help out just let me know which of the IC's you would like and I will send some of each out to you.

NWCCTV

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

Wow. What a score!

Anyway, the best way to pin them out is with a 5V lead in series with a 1K resistor and and a ground lead. It won't take long to ring out the connections by probing pairs of leads, watching which segments light up, until you've got it figured out.

-Phil

Phil, I was able to get the LED's to light up. Now, What do I need to use to get them to flash numbers? I was thinking a timer might do it, but I am not certain and figured I better ask. I want to stay away from using a stamp or other microcontroller if possible.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

You will need to use a microcontroller. Have you determined whether it's wired common-anode or common-cathode? You will need to know which before designing your driver circuit.

-Phil

NWCCTV

I have no idea as to how to figure that out. Please explain.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

You have two probe wires: one connected to Vdd through a 1K resistor; the other to ground. You start probing pairs of pins, and sometimes a segment in one of the digits will light up. So you leave the positive probe where it is and start probing other pins with the negative probe. If the same segment in a different digit lights up, you have a common-cathode display; otherwise the digit selection is done via the anode.

Here are two schematics that illustrate the difference for a four-digit display:



The top is common-cathode; the bottom, common-anode.

-Phil

NWCCTV

OK. I will check this out in the next day or two. Work happens!!!

NWCCTV

So, It looks like they are common-cathode. What next?

Publison

NWCCTV wrote: »

So, It looks like they are common-cathode. What next?

A MAX7219 is a nice chip to drive it. BS2 or Propeller. There are examples for both.

NWCCTV

[QUOTE=Publison; There are examples for both.[/QUOTE]

Where did you find the examples. I looked around and could not find them on this site.

LoopyByteloose

The Nuts and Volts articles that Parallax has republished in Resources can help you drive these with a BasicStamp. This isn't really difficult as all your are driving in LEDs.

But you do have to create a look up table for converting numbers into 7 segment display code. And if you have 4 of them together, you have the chance to learn how to multiplex to save power.

Nuts & Volts of BASIC Stamps (Volume 4) • Page 195 has something. Google is your friend.

OR...

Nuts & Volts of BASIC Stamps 2007. Column #141

Publison

NWCCTV wrote: »

Where did you find the examples. I looked around and could not find them on this site.

Here is an example code for the Propeller:

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?91643-Max7219&highlight=max+7219

Loopy already mentioned the Nuts and Volts articles for the BS2

NWCCTV

Yesterday was another winner!!! I picked up this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Erector-Crane-set-Special-Edition-/251123205325?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a781c04cd

Complete set and most parts still in bags for 5 bucks!!! Another 5 bucks got me a brand new in packaging 50 foot Craftsman Laser Tape/Level/Thermometer!!!

erco

Give you 12 bucks for everything.

Everybody wins!

NWCCTV

Did you learn math in public school????? By my calculations with gas at $3.70 a gallon I would lose!!!!! Besides, I have wanted an Erector set like this for quite some time. I just could not see paying the money they want for them these days. Back in the day they were free for me when Mom bought them!!! Even then there was not a 2000 % markup on them. As for the laser tape, my $20.00 EBay special went out some time ago so I figured I could not go wrong for the price. It does square feet, cubic feet and tells you the temp when powered on. If nothing else, my daughters dog will have a hayday chasing the beam all over the room!!!!!